My First Tank

[Lofus]

After seeing a relatives tank in Vancouver, I decided to start my own tank. The specs are:

72 gal bowfront with 100lbs of live rock and a 3" sand bed (I'm still adding the sand). I'm using a Berlin classic skimmer in a 25 gal sump (wet/dry with the bio balls removed). The main pump is a little giant 3mdqxdc and circulation is enhanced by 3 maxi-jet 1200's.

The tank has been running with just live rock for two weeks and Amonia, nitrite and nitrate are all 0. Not sure if it is cycling or has finished.

The little giant pump is really loud so I'm looking for ideas on how to quiet it.

Great to find this site and see so many others in the hobby in Calgary.

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[Delphinus]

Welcome to Canreef.

[Bob I]

Welcome to the board Lofus (If that is your real name), and remember the only thing two reefers agree on is that the third one is doing it all wrong.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by rcipema

If that is your real name

Dont worry Lofus .... " recipe " IS his real name

Cheers

[Lofus]

Thanks for all the input. What are the good LFS' in town. I've been to Big Al's but that is about it.

Where is the best place to get livestock? I've been looking at J&L Aquatics but am a little nervous mail ordering fish sight unseen.

Thanks,

Jim

[Delphinus]

For MO J&L is OK, as is www.saltwaterconnection.com in Winnipeg. For dry goods there is also www.mops.ca out of Ottawa. www.seacare.org is also a good place to get stuff (livestock) from.

LFS ... there is Big Al's, Wai's, Pisces, Riverfront, Oceans, Golds, and ... and ... I'm sure I'm missing a bunch here. It's kind of a touchy topic, but each has their own strengths and weaknesses, good days and bad days.

[Quinn]

if you're in the mood for a road trip you will want to check out aquarium illusions in edmonton.

[Lofus]

This is a copy of what I had posted to Reefs.org:

I've set up a 10 gal quarentine tank for adding fish and it is nearing the end of its cycle.

This is going to be a FOWLR and I was thinking of adding the following fish. I would really appreciate any comments. This is the first aquarium I've ever set up so I need all the help I can get.

the fish are:

1 - Ocellaris Clownfish
1 - Purple Tang or 1 - Regal Tang
5 - Green Chromis or 5 - Lyretail Anthias (or a mix)
1 - Lawnmower Blenny
1 - Ribbon Eel

for inverts

1 - Red Marble Star
2-3 - Peppermint Shrimp
2 - Cleaner Shrimp
20 - Astrea Snails
45 - Blue Legged Hermit Crabs.

If I get any corals growing from the LR I will decide if I want to keep them but the lights are 2 48" 10,000K full spectrum and one 48" 40W 03 Actinic so I don't expect to get any growing. Once I get the hang of this I will upgrade the lights to MH and start on some corals but that is probably a year or so down the road.

The consensus is I should drop the eel but the rest seem ok. What would you guys recommend for order of adding the fish? I am planning on putting the snails and crabs in ASAP to tackle the hair algae I have started growing on the LR.

[Quinn]

confirming that a ribbon eel (provided you can even find one) is a bad choice - they have an annoying habit of starving to death in captivity.

this is a quarantine tank, so i'm assuming the inhabitants will be moved to the 72 gal later? a 10 gal is far too small for a tang of any type, which tend to get very large (even a 72 gal may be small for a tang, regal especially). have you considered a dwarf angel instead?

otherwise i personally would say that sounds ok.

[Lofus]

The QT is 10 gal, the main tank where all the fish will end up is 72 gal.

I've planned a 4 week quarantine period for all fish entering the main tank.